The River Gypsies' Flow Page

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Remember that even the best flow page is no substitute for good judgement. The relationship between flow levels and boatability constantly change. The flow ranges on this page are best guesses at single points in time by fallible human beings. They are very rough guides. Use your best judgment to visually assess levels before putting on. Remember too that levels can change after you put on, so monitor weather conditions and take into account possible flow changes before committing yourself to particular runs.

This page is available in WAP format. Check flows using your PDA or mobile phone using the url boatingbeta.com/gwflows.

Minimum = 3, medium = 3.3 - 4, too high = 5. Link to Little White at Husum Falls Graph. The graph and source links for this run are to Pat Welch's flow page. Pat was the first person to create a modern flow page, aggregating, graphing and interpreting data available online from other sources, and, as is the case with this gage, creating virtual online gages where real online gages did not exist. Here's what Pat's page looked like in June 1997. Pat created his page in late 1994 or early 1995, back when the NCSA Mosaic browser was king, Netscape Navigator 1.0 had just been released, and IE 1.0 was almost a year in the future!

Runs in the spring and fall when water is released from Little Grass Reservoir. South Fork Water and Power is working with American Whitewater to schedule releases at boatable levels. The cut-offs are: Minimum = 180, medium = 230 - 400, too high = 450 cfs.

Minimum = 90, medium = 110 - 300, too high = 400. Format: current flow and time taking into account 15 minute delay between release and arrival of water at put-in; day's release message as recorded by Duke Energy; current lake level; date and time message accessed. If the lake level is over 100 feet the actual level is higher than the release level, probably much higher as extra water will be coming over the dam and down the Big Hungry as well.

Minimum = 90, medium = 99 - 160, too high = 210. Format: current flow and time taking into account 2 hour delay between release and arrival of water at put-in; day's release message as recorded by Duke Energy; current lake level; date and time message accessed. If the lake level is over 100 feet the actual level is higher than the release level, probably much higher as extra water will be coming over the dam and down the Big Hungry as well.

Green Release Schedule

SEUS

Tuxedo HyS05/25: Will be shut down.05/26: Will be shut down.05/27: Will be shut down. 05/25/2019 11:50 EDT

This is the most recent schedule as posted by Duke Energy. Remember that "operational schedules are determined daily" -- they can and do change. Add 15 minutes to the starting time for the water to reach the Upper put-in and 2.5 hours for it to get to the Narrows; it will be too low to put-in on the Narrows 1 hour after the ending time. Examine the weekly pattern of recent releases to anticipate releases more than three days out: BoatingBeta Green Release Archive. When the lake level drops below its seasonal target range (97.5 last time I checked) releases are shorter and less frequent.

Minimum = 1.4, medium = 1.8 - 2.0, too high = 2.2. There is a discrepancy between the 76 bridge visual gage and the USGS online gage. At 1.2 feet on the USGS gage the 76 bridge visual age reads 0.9 feet; the discrepancy gets smaller as levels rise, with no discrepancy at levels above 2.2 feet. Both gages are a short distance downstream from put-in.

Minimum = .8, medium = 1.1 - 1.5, too high = 1.7. Based on the AFWS: Chimney Pic SG.; The AFWS gage reads about .7 feet above the visual gage; the BB gage subtracts .7 feet from the AFWS reading to account for this discrepancy. Use your judgement when assessing levels -- the relationship between the Picnic Area visual reading and boatabilty changes more frequently than any other gage I know!

Minimum = 1, medium = 1.3 - 1.5, too high = 1.6. Based on the AFWS: Chimney Pic SG.; The AFWS gage reads about .7 feet above the visual gage; the BB gage subtracts .7 feet from the AFWS reading to account for this discrepancy. Use your judgement when assessing levels -- the relationship between the Picnic Area visual reading and boatabilty changes more frequently than any other gage I know!

Minimum = 2.4, medium = 2.9 - 3.5, too high = 5. Gage located about 1/4 mile below the "Y" (the confluence with the Middle Prong, about 3 miles downstream of TO) making it easy to confirm level visually. Note that the NOAA timestamp is in UTC while our timestamp is converted to local time.

Minimum = 4200, medium = 4800 - 5400, too high = 16000. Different lines over falls open at different levels. Beware of sieves in "Sieve City" rapids below falls. Sieve City rapids can be run even when levels are too high for falls.

Minimum = 250, medium = 600 - 1500, too high = 3500. Gage is located 11 miles dowstream of the Suicide Section put-in. Thus when the river is on the rise the Suicide section can become runnable before it is reflected on the online gauge. The opposite can occur when the level is dropping unusually fast, such as after a summer thunderstom. An alternate gage is located about 6 miles upstream of the put-in (on one of the 3 forks of the Little River) and can be used an early indicator to see if and how quickly the water level is rising or falling: USGS: WF Little at DeSoto Park.

Flow Color Coding Key

Flow Color Coding Key

Color

Interpretation

Meaning

Note: assigning flow codes is highly subjective -- one person's "way too high" is another's "yahoo!" I have attempted to assign the codes relative to the typical person likely to boat the run at normal levels. "Too high" in this context means "the typical person found on this run at the levels it is most often paddled would find this run at this level very challenging." In general, runs are harder at higher levels. Use your discretion regarding the suitability of the run to your skill level and experience after seeing the level in person.

Too High

Beyond the envelope for the typical person likely to boat this run.

High

Frequently run this high, but a stretch for the typical person likely to boat this run.

Medium

Very enjoyable for the typical person likely to boat this run.

Low

Frequently run this low. Worth a look but probably not a long drive.

Too Low

Seldom run lower by anyone who isn't desperate and/or lives by the put-in.